RUNAWAY HORSES is the chronicle of a conspiracy, a novel about the roots and nature of Japanese fanaticism in the years that led to war - an era marked by depression, the upheaval of radical social change, political violence, and assassination.Isao, the driven hero, is a young, engaging patriot fanatic. His father, a corrupt and temporising spouter of nationalist pieties, instils in him the ancient samurai ethos. In its service Isao organises a violent plot against the new industrialists who he believes are usurping the Emporer's rightful power and threatning the very integrity fo Japan. As the conspiracy unfolds - and ultimately unravels - Mishima brilliantly dramatises the conflicts of a decade that saw the fabric of Japanese life torn apart.